In Colo., gun restrictions bring political peril

FILE - In this Dec. 12, 2012 file photo, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is pictured during an interview with the Associated Press at his office in the Capitol in Denver. Hickenlooper will sign legislation Wednesday, March 20, 2013 that sets limits on ammunition magazines and expands background checks for firearms, marking a Democratic victory in a state where gun ownership is a treasured right and Second Amendment debate has played out in the wake of two mass shootings. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)

DENVER (AP) — Firearms play an outsized role in the hearts of Coloradans. It's a frontier state that adopted gunslingers Buffalo Bill and Doc Holliday as native sons, where treasured guns are routinely passed from generation to generation.

So when Colorado's Democratic governor made known that he plans to ratchet back gun rights Wednesday by signing two limits into law, Republicans and gun-rights supporters gasped.

Then they set to work trying to undo the new laws to limit most ammunition magazines to 15 rounds and to expand required background checks to private and online gun sales.

At least two ballot petitions had been filed. Some Republicans hinted at lawsuits. More predicted political repercussions for Democrats in a state poised to be first outside the East Coast to put new restrictions on firearms after last year's mass shootings in Aurora and Newtown, Conn.

Hickenlooper says he supports gun rights. But a few months after famously saying the Aurora movie theater shooting couldn't have prevented by gun control, the self-described moderate started explaining how his thinking changed.

"When you look at what happened in Aurora, a great deal of that damage was from the large magazine on the AR-15 (rifle). I think we need to have that discussion and say, 'Where is this appropriate?'" Hickenlooper said in a December interview.

The governor didn't ask for a magazine limit in his opening address to lawmakers this year, but he asked for expanded background checks.

"Surely, Second Amendment advocates and gun control supporters can find common ground in support of this proposition: Let's examine our laws and make the changes needed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people," Hickenlooper said.

Lawmakers sent him both, plus a measure to revive fees for gun purchasers needing background checks. Both become effective July 1.

When Hickenlooper signaled he'd sign them all, reaction was swift. A suburban Denver gun-accessories maker, Magpul Industries, said it would make good on a threat to leave the state.

"It is disappointing to us that money and a social agenda from outside the state have apparently penetrated the American West," the company said in a statement.

Republicans were angry and saddened, too. GOP lawmakers have tried and failed to expand gun rights in reaction to the mass shootings. They said Monday that the governor's careful reputation as a moderate compromiser was in danger.

"If he signs these bills, I have to come to the conclusion that he's more interested in his national prospects than he is his legacy here in Colorado," said Republican Sen. Greg Brophy, who represents a rural part of the state's eastern plains. "These are not moderate. These are extreme, and just really unpopular."

Other Democratic gun control proposals are pending in the state Legislature but haven't attracted the opposition of the magazine limit and the expanded background checks. Those measures drew thousand to the Capitol to pack legislative hearings, more activists outside regaling lawmakers by honking car horns in protest for hours.

Gun control bills still pending in the state Legislature include a ban on gun ownership by people accused of domestic-violence crimes and a measure to eliminate online-only safety training for people seeking concealed-weapons permits.

Two more Democratic gun control bills were withdrawn when they appeared to lack support for passage. Those included a new liability standard for gun owners and sellers, and a ban on concealed weapons on public college campuses.

Kristen Wyatt can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/APkristenwyattAssociated PressCopyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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